NOVPUB753: Operation Arid Soil : Part Sixty-Four
753: Operation Arid Soil : Part Sixty-Four
“Khasekhemwy?”
“Yes?”
“The desert is falling apart, you can feel it right?”
“Countless faithful worshippers of Prime Undeviginti are being slaughtered right as we are speaking, I can feel their stifled screams”
“Same for worshippers of Watchful Undeviginti… Be they civilians, warriors, elderly, young children… They are all being killed, dozens by the minute…”
The two Ersta’ras stood side by side upon the tall ramparts of the capital, they had expected casualties, heavy casualties even, but never would they have imagined that such a massacre would take place from the moment Sanguine Undeviginti took over, the enemy and the red sun were cooperating together, that much was obvious, but still…
“It’s impossible, this can’t be their work alone… Even with every single member of the three faiths, every single orcs and molochites, even with a giant, even with the unending army of corpses controlled by Sanguine Undeviginti- There is simply no way that they could even get close to such a slaughter… I sense no presence of a solar beast, and the ranks of the sanguine one are the same as they always are… So what is it?” Ny-Hor’s only visible eye was wide open, the old man who had been alive for many decades simply had no clue what could be the cause behind the crushing defeat the cities were suffering.
Even after receiving defensive upgrade and sending Ersta’sols, not a single one of them seemed to be winning, although what he was sensing were only the death of fellow worshippers, he did not dare delude himself in the illusion that victory was achievable for them, from his perspective, it looked more like they were being executed in droves instead of dying in combat.
“Seems like the unknown party was the right option, this could only be achieved by a great number of warriors, right?
Even if all of the three faiths had an Ersta’ra, this could not explain this” Khasekhemwy shook his head, the ring adorning his beard striking against one another.
“We need to at least preserve the capital… Are the half-giants ready?”
“They are, but Menka is devastated that some of her babies could die”
“That much is obvious… Mmh?” both of the old men suddenly had their attention directed down to the desert plain down below, before the grand gates of the capital, the sand was black, so it was almost impossible to notice it with eyesight alone, but there was a tall figure, garbed in dark, just standing a distance away.
“Was that person there a moment ago?”
“Hard to be sure, but I am pretty sure they just emerged from the sand”
“Doesn’t look like one of Sanguine Undeviginti’s corpse-puppet though”
“Shall we go down and greet this visitor ourselves?”
“I have the feeling that it would end especially badly for anyone else, so I suppose that we should”
The two elders stepped off the ledge and simply floated down, utilising vapour to slow their fall, the usage of the solar energy so precise that it almost seemed like they were merely willing for themselves to descend slowly.
The dim red glow of Sanguine Undeviginti, coupled with the sand having turned a deep black and the darkness of the visitor’s attire made it difficult to actually discern any specific feature about them, but the two Ersta’ras quickly took notice of the old, weathered mask nonetheless.
“Strange, would you mind introducing yourself?” spoke the Prime Ersta’la.
“You must be responsible for the alliance between the trio and the monsters, right?” the Watchful Ersta’la was much less subtle however, and directly asked the question he had in mind.
In response, the shadowy figure brought their hands close to the hilt of their blades.
“I am Ir’Houwl, minor lord in service to The Prince and Princess Of Death, and it is indeed my doing, as we speak, my men are leading the so-called trio and monsters toward total victory, I had not been expecting things to go so easily, so my visit wasn’t actually planned, but I might as well cut off the the hydra’s golden heads whilst we are at it” the undead slowly wrapped her fingers around the handles of both scimitars and unsheathed them.
“What is a hydra?”
“Don’t ask meaningless questions, that woman is here to kill us”
“Should we call for reinforcement?”
“Useless, they’ll only get in the way and get themselves killed”
“Then you should call them, I would be glad to send them to death as well” spoke Ir’Houwl.
“Presumptuous…” Ny-Hor signalled something and the two men spread apart, aiming to get the minor lord from opposite directions, both of them flaring up from within with vapour, before they could get into position however, Ir’Houwl surged right at Khasekhemwy, one scimitar swung in an upward motion, causing sand in a straight to part as a result of the strike.
The Prime Esrta’ra managed to evade the strike and directed his palm at the undead, vapour forming into a powerful blast, but he felt no resistance through the expanded energy, eyes flicking to the side where the minor lord had dodged toward.
‘That woman possesses no vapour at all, yet she is so fast… Better not hold back on the usage of vapour’ the elder fully reinforced his entire body with as much prime vapour as he possibly could, which made him glow like Prime Undeviginti itself had descended and taken control of his body.
He rushed forward, Ny-Hor ahead of him, also reassembled a beacon of light, the Watchful Ersta’ra attempted to lend a palm strike to the undead’s torso, and for a moment, it seemed like it connected despite Ir’Houwl twisting her body to avoid, but it was a fluke, he only hit empty space within her ample clothing and some sand that was stocked in there for some reason, the undead striking downward toward his spine with the pommel of one of her blades.
The bandaged living swiftly contorted around and diverted the attack with one strike before going for a kick toward the knee, which was countered by another kick.
‘Mmh… Feels like when I spar with Khasekhemwy, if this is her best, this could be manageable, and if not, one of us will have to push ourselves a bit harder to lend a debilitating strike’ the watchful worshipper doubted that this had been the undead’s strongest right there, it wasn’t his strongest either, but it was the maximum level of physical augmentation he could maintain without losing more vapour than he regained.
“Khasekhemwy, you have more offensive and defensive power than me, take the lead, I’ll support you from a distance as we figure out what she is capable of” he spoke to his fellow, who nodded with a grin whilst stroking his beard.
“Heh, as per usual, you are unwilling to interact with a woman”
“Shut up and focus”
